Council approves Phase II sidewalk plan

The El Dorado Springs City Council unanimously approved the El Dorado Springs Chamber of Commerce request to apply for a $440,000 MoDOT Grant to build Phase II of the planned sidewalks for El Dorado Springs.

The $440,000 grant is a 20/80 grant with the city contributing $44,000 out of the general Fund  and the chamber raising  the same amount  by Dec. 29 of this year.

The presentation was made by Assistant Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce Peggy Snodgrass. The project would put six-foot side walks from Hwy. 54 north on Park Street to the school cross walk, and south on Park from Hwy 54 to Hospital Road and then east to 32 Hwy.

Snodgrass said that Phase II would: afford our community’s children safe passage to and from school and activities; make our community more accessible to American’s with disabilities; promote health and well-being of the citizens in our community and provide more access to health care facilities such as our hospital, nursing home, Medical Mall and the new CMH Clinic. She said the application deadline is Nov. 1. Director for Economic Development for Cedar County Marge Vance said this would be a great project. She said she would like to see the sidewalk continue on from Lafayette to Joe Davis in the primary project. A pedestrian activated signal was discussed for the intersection of Hwy 54 and Park. Rogers said the engineers’ estimate would be 18,000 – 20,000 for that location.

Rogers said the grants would be awarded on January 1 rather than March like the first sidewalk grant. Which means the chamber has less time to raise the money.

Snodgrass said the chamber appreciated the city’s support. Mayor True was authorized to sign a resolution at a later date in regard to the grant application.

During the City Manager’s report Rogers said the  insurance company has been here to look at the substation that burned. The second inspector, an electrical engineer will send a report to the insurance company. Once the report is received, the city will need to remove the base the substation sat on and Sunbelt Environmental will come back and remove the dirt and dispose of it. Testing on the oil shows no PCB’s in the oil and the recovered oil is safe to use in the city’s waste oil furnace.

Rogers said the a consultant hired by MoDOT was in El  Dorado Springs for 1 1⁄2 days on a compliance review for the grant the city receives for the taxi program. Rogers said that Olsson and Associates, engineers for the well project is working on a contract to send to the city,

Rogers said the auditors were in town for the preliminary audit and will be back in late November for the actual audit.

Randy Bland mentioned that the pad with the bench by McDonald’s fills up with dirt any time it rains. Rogers stated the contractor was aware and will work on correcting the issue.

Luster moved that the council recognize and commend Rogers for being selected as Citizen of the Year for the good job he does for the community.  It passed unanimously.

Rogers mentioned that a 1% cost of living increase for employees was approved in the new budget. Building and Grounds Director John Burrus asked if the council would consider a 25 cent per hour increase for those making lower wages. The council voted to approve a 25 cent per hour increase for employees making less than  $25 an hour and 1% for those $25 and up.

All the councilmen were present: Mayor Brad True, Jim Luster, Randy Bland, Nick Bland and Jerry Baldwin. City Manager Bruce Rogers and city Clerk Lisa Allison were also present,

Kimball Long representing the Spring City Revitalization Group thanked the City for its assistance with the Chili Cook-off and she congratulated Rogers on being named the Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.